Recycling More and More

Posted on: 15 October 2015

Recycling paper products, cans, bottles, and other sustainable items offers a variety of benefits, from helping you keep your home organized and reducing your carbon footprint, to decreased earth pollution and community economic relief. But it can be pretty inconvenient to recycle at home if the right preparations aren't made and useful tools and resources are not put into place.

You'll find that with just a little planning, and by implementing a few tips and tricks, you can make recycling easy for everyone living in your home. First things first, it's important to set up a recycling account with your waste management service provider. In addition to regular garbage cans, the garbage company should be able to provide you with special curbside containers to put recycling in. Here are a few other things to consider:

Use Color-Coded Containers

A great way to keep your recycling separated inside until you can get it to the curb outdoors is to set up small color-coded containers with lids in the kitchen or laundry room. A blue container can be used for paper, a yellow container can be used for cans, and a red container can be used for bottles. Kitchen-sized garbage cans with foot pedal controlled lids work great – just use colored tape to color-code them, or write directly on them with colored permanent markers using words to describe exactly what should go in each container. Then it's just a matter of emptying the containers into their larger curbside counterparts a couple of times a week.

Assign Storage for Reusable Items

There is a chance that you or a family member can use some of the things that would otherwise be put out on the curb for recycling, so take a little time to consider future endeavors before assigning something to a recycling container. For instance, if you're planning to complete a do-it-yourself project with your kids, you can save a few cans to make a mobile or rocket cars with.

You may find that keeping the comics from the newspaper will come in handy when you run out of wrapping paper or want to engage in a messy project on the table. Just assign some storage space where these reusable items can be easily found when they're needed. A large laundry basket on the porch or a plastic tub with a latching lid in the closet will do the trick.

Create a Recycling Chart

It's just as important to keep track of when your garbage company will be picking up the recycling. This will ensure that pickup days are not overlooked and your recycling doesn't pile up at home. Whether your service provider picks up the recycling once a week or on a monthly basis, use a wall calendar and schedule in every pick up day at least a month in advance.

Highlight the days with a yellow or orange marker so each day is easy to spot, and put a small note next to the calendar as a friendly reminder to the family that they should keep an eye out for scheduled recycling pick up days so they can double check that the indoor recycling is taken outside in time to be picked up. In fact, you can assign a week's worth of recycling duty at a time to each person living with you based on the recycling calendar. This will keep engagement organized and fair for all members of the household.

By implementing these techniques into your household's regimen, you can feel good about taking care of the environment, keeping your garbage buildup to a minimum, and even setting a good example for family members as well as your local community. For more information about your recycling options, contact local waste management companies like B-P Trucking Inc.